Who fought the first duel in Sydney? Where were the city’s first dancing horses? And who was the daredevil who crossed Middle Harbour on a tightrope in 1877?

This whimsical, witty history of Sydney will entertain children like nothing else they’ve seen. In a series of unexpected, adventurous and just plain crazy firsts, Hilary Bell and Matthew Martin trace the events, people and places that have shaped their city, however unintentionally. Where else will you find Sydney’s first surfer-girl sharing pages with the astonishing tightrope-walking feats of the marvellous funambulist himself, Henri L’Estrange?